Reader letters Oct. 4

After much prayer and consideration, I have decided not to pursue election to the office of Haywood County Sheriff in 2014.

I want to thank my many supporters and their words of encouragement to my family and I over the past several years, and assure them that this decision was not an easy one to make.

I would ask that the good people of Haywood County give their full support to our law enforcement officers who strive to give ethical and professional service in all they do to protect our lives, property, and quality of living on a daily basis.

Bill Wilke

Canton

Congress, president should join plan

To the editor:

The most sensible idea I’ve heard from Washington in the past week is that the President and all of Congress should accept The Affordable Health Care Act in place of their current health plan.

They should live by the same laws as the rest of us.

Al Allomong

Waynesville

Maggie’s decline needs to be stopped

To the editor:

Maggie Valley residents are often asked what’s wrong with their town board.

Maggie is best described as a self-serving chamber of commerce authorized to annex outlying areas and tax its residents for pet projects.

The board appropriates considerably more tax money to promote tourism than to service homeowners. The latest uproar is squandering taxes on a failed festival project and secretly exiling two employees as scapegoats.

The board’s biased actions have pushed Maggie into an economic decline with many motels, restaurants and shops closing or are for sale.

The decline began 10 years ago with buying a cow pasture for a festival site and creating a series of noisemaking events.

The board’s first blunder was moving the attractive craft shows at the city hall to the rutty festival grounds resulting in fewer visitors.

Following that artistic loss were hoards of motorcycles with their ear splitting noise.

The racket severely disturbed the zoo animals causing the zoo to close within two years. Highway 19 traffic increased and many cars and huge trucks speed 50 to 60 miles an hour through town. Some top the incline at Ghost Town doing 70 and 80 mph.

Safety islands are dangerous since most drivers don’t stop for pedestrians. The fictional speed limit of 35 mph isn’t enforced and four traffic deaths occurred this summer.

Maggie Valley was once a harmonious place to live without a contentious town board.

As the town grew, outsiders with business interests started taking over the town board. The new politicos began annexing areas without the permission of the unwilling residents.

They have remained in the majority, neglecting Maggie residents and seasonal homeowners. Taxpayer requests for equitable treatment have been futile and board members voted out are replaced by more of the same breed.

Despite the mess, Maggie has the potential to rival Highlands, Cashiers and Black Mountain, attracting sophisticated people with the means to afford extended visits.

Judging by the board’s actions, the way to achieve this objective is for a number of concerned residents to begin their own pet project to ‘Save our Town.’

Otherwise, as the poet says, Maggie will remain a beautiful flower wasting its fragrance on the desert air.

Martin Malloy

Maggie Valley

Please help trace family roots

To the editor:

I am working on tracing my family roots to find someone who is a lineal ancestor that is on the 1924 Baker roll. My great-grandmother was Grace Rafferty Aldridge and her mother and father were Lula Hall Pressley/Frank James Aldridge.

Their mother and father were (Lula) Maggie Dyer/Durran Pressley and (Frank) Amelia Johnson/John Aldredge.

At some point, Lula Hall Pressley once married, began spelling her last name with an “I” rather than an “E” and her husband’s first and middle name reversed because his family wrote James F. Aldredge Sr. on his death certificate and spelled Lula Pressley Aldredge as his wife.

After many years of meetings, planning and checking out various skate parks, it is great that the Waynesville Skate Park is finally open.

I am usually there a couple of times a week and the kids are having a great time. I am so grateful because the skaters have waited so long for this.

It is also great to see that parents can take responsibility for their children and adults are responsible for themselves.

Thank you Waynesville for the wonderful skate park.

I encourage all people who have voiced an interest in the skate park to come out, see how well it is going and build a relationship with some of the wonderful people using the park. Make a difference in a child’s life.

Jane Lee

Waynesville

Don’t disturb kittens

To the editor:

People who find little kittens outside need to understand that picking up these kittens, bringing them to the animal shelter, or to rescue groups, causes them to die.

Little kittens need their mothers to survive. If you think they are abandoned, likely the mom is watching you where you cannot see her.

There are very few people who can care for orphaned kittens in our community, so please leave the kittens where you find them and give them a chance to grow up.

Linda Sexton

Waynesville

Comments (1)

Posted by: Allen Alsbrooks | Oct 06, 2013 20:56

Mr. Malloy.

Many years ago Maggie Valley was a great place for FAMILIES to visit. Not just the affluent as you desire. Maggie Valley has the ability to rise again to her former glory.

To do this we do need to pay greater attention to slowing down traffic on what I call "Soco Speedway" from my end on Dellwood all the way through to the western gateway. The pedestrian walkways are indeed dangerous and poorly marked in most cases. There are maybe 3 with adequate signage. Every day when I drive through town drivers pass me at speeds far greater than the posted 35MPH speed limit. I called out one of our own alderman doe speeding when she passed me going to a board meeting 2 years ago.

We must improve our curb appeal too. Every business in our beautiful valley is subject to an "appearance standard" when they build or remodel. When this was pushed on us by the previous planning board they failed to include residential structures located in the commercial district. The only real purpose behind this effort was to make the affluent "less offended" by our "simple" roots. What is critically needed is a plan and program to help everyone in the commercial district spruce up their streetscapes if they can't do it on their own. I would like to see some of the "bed tax" used for such purposes but the TDA would wet themselves if we ever tried to fund projects that actually helped the business community; including those who collect the tax (and it would require changing the law apparently.

The prosperity of our town should never be an "us versus them' endeavor. Is just unfortunate many residents not in business don't share our desires to bring our valley back to a thriving family destination.

Another misconception that must be changed is that we do not roll up our streets at 5PM. I would love to see more than just restaurants and bars open until11PM during our tourist season. We don't need to become another Pigeon Forge to be "family friendly" but we do need to offer entertainment to suit our current lifestyles. We have already experienced the "if we don't evolve we die" phenomena. Now we must evolve.

Mountaineer readers are encouraged to share their views on topics of concern in the community. Letters printed in the paper must not exceed 350 words, should not attack another individual or a business and should be about a timely topic of local interest.